their
heat, and sent on some beneficent message across the world. So, deep in
our hearts, beneath the storm, beneath the raving winds and the curling
waves, there may be a central repose, as unlike stagnation as it is
unlike tumult; and the peace of God may, as a warrior, keep our hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus.

What is the plain English of that metaphor? Just this, that a man who
has that peace as his conscious possession is lifted above the
temptations that otherwise would drag him away. The full cup, filled
with precious wine, has no room in it for the poison that otherwise
might be poured in. As Jesus Christ has taught us, there is such a thing
as cleansing a heart in some measure, and yet because it is 'empty,'
though it is 'swept and garnished,' the demons come back again. The best
way to be made strong to resist temptation, is to be lifted above
feeling it to be a temptation, by reason of the sweetness of the peace
possessed. Oh! if our hearts were filled, as they might be filled, with
that divine repose, do you think that the vulgar, coarse-tasting baits
which make our mouths water now would have any power over us? Will a man
who bears in his hands jewels of priceless value, and knows them to be
such, find much temptation when some imitation stone, made of coloured
glass and a tinfoil backing, is presented to him? Will the world draw us
away if we are rooted and grounded in the peace of God? Geologists tell
us that climates are changed and creatures are killed by the slow
variation of level in the earth. If you and I can only heave our lives
up high enough, the foul things that live down below will find the air
too pure and keen for them, and will die and disappear; and all the
vermin that stung and nestled down in the flats will be gone when we get
up to the heights. The peace of God will keep our hearts and thoughts.

III. Now, lastly, notice how we get the peace of God.

My text is an exuberant promise, but it is knit on to something before,
by that 'and' at the beginning of the verse. It is a promise, as all
God's promises are, on conditions. And here are the conditions. 'Be
careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.' That defines
the conditions in part; and the last words of the text itself complete
the definition. 'In Christ Jesus' describes, not so much where we are to
be kept, as a condition under which we shall be